Letting Them Talk with Will Harris - Ep. 52 - Tommy Stinson (The Replacements / Bash & Pop / Guns 'n' Roses / Perfect)

This time I’m letting Tommy Stinson talk. Tommy was busy touring the world and elsewhere when he was still in his teens. Of course, that necessitated dropping out of school, but considering the journey that he went on as a member of the Replacements, it’s easy enough to argue that he made the right decision. Of course, the Replacements haven’t really been a going concern – at least as a full-time band – since the early ‘90s, so Tommy  has had to make his own music, something he’s been quite happy to do. First came the band Bash & Pop, which was followed by Perfect. Then came Tommy’s unexpected stint as a member of Guns ‘n’ Roses, after which he finally made his belated debut as a solo artist in 2004 with the album Village Gorilla Head. Since then, Tommy has continued to do some solo stuff, but he also did a stint as a member of Soul Asylum, reteamed with his Replacements bandmates for a few years to do some shows, and unexpectedly revived Bash & Pop for a second album in 2017. His most recent solo album was 2023’s Wronger, but he’s got plans for new material that we’ll hopefully be hearing in the near future. I must admit that the reason that Tommy and I did this interview was to promote an intimate live show in Norfolk, but before the original planned drop date for the episode, I got word that the show was canceled. The reason? By unfortunate coincidence, it ended up being the same day at a free Dinosaur Jr. concert in Virginia Beach, which… I mean, it’s virtually the same demographic, and it’s free, so of course everyone opted to go to that show instead. But don’t worry, Tommy will almost certainly be back, and hopefully after listening to this episode, you’ll be inspired to go see him on his next tour. Well, that’s probably enough of an intro. It’s time to let Tommy Stinson talk.